Mail chute



Jan. 24, 1933. J, w, CUTLER 1,895,069

MAIL CHUTE Filed June 5. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 11v VEN TOR 70} @k Warrew (Zihr r A TTORNE y Jan. 24, 1933'. J, w, CUTLER 1,895,069

MAIL CHUT'E Filed June 3, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 24,1933

Units!) STATES leases-e PATENT OFFICE JOSEPH WARREN CUTLER, OLE ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 CUTLER MAIL CHUTE (30., OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF YORK MAIL CHUTE Application filed June 3, 1931. Serial vNo. 541,763.

My present invention relates to mail chutes, such as are in common use for conducting first class mail matter from the upper floors of a building to a receptacle or mail box at the bottom, and it has for its object to so fit a chute of this character that the vair pressure therein, as both encountered by and produced by the falling letters, may be regulated to control their flight and cause them to be conducted at a velocity better suited to insure their safe arrival in the mail box without injury. A further object of the invention is to prevent disadvantageous drafts in the chute to the same end.

To these and other ends, the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of-an entire floor section and broken away portions of adjoining floor sections of a twin mail chute constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. Qis a front elevation of the mail box or receiving receptacle on the lower floor, the adjoining chute sections being broken away. In other words, this view is a lower continuation of the showing of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the box of Fig. 2 with a certain protecting screen removed;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the box, showing a portion of Fig. 3 with the protectingscreen in place;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 5-5 of Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a face view of the mail box shutter detached;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged horizontal section, broken away at the center, through a chute section taken on a plane just above the letter drop, showing the same open for the reception of mail; I

Fig. 8 is a similar view in full, showing the drop opening closed to the admission of mail in a companion section of ,a twin chute but partially open to the passage of air;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged plan view of the displaceable closure for the drop opening with itsair regulator fully closed;

Fig. ,lOis a similar view of the closure with the air regulator partially open;

. Fig. 11 is a section on the line 11-11 of 5 Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of ,a letter drop mounting or casting, showing the drop closure in open position;

Fig. 1.3 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section through the upper portion of the letter drop with the closure open, and

Fig. 14 is a similar view with the closure closed.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

In the very tall, modern buildings, particularly, running as .they do to seventy or eighty stories, problems arise in the installation and Operation of mail chutes not heretofore encountered, at least to such a degree. The heavier envelopes attain a great velocity when dropped from the upper stories, which velocity ,is augmented, if, .under conditions of air pressure or temperature or both, a down draft is induced in the enclosed chute. lVith respect to drafts, the chutes naturally .act in the manner of chimneys. On the other hand, upward drafts have a tendency to flutter the lighter and thinner pieces of mail matter, causing them to hesitate and be overtaken by heavier pieces travelling at greater velocity which occasionally results in jamming of the pieces and a choked condition or stoppage in the chute. I

Another reason for the desirability of regulating the drafts and pressures is that sometimes moisture collects in the interior of the chute, due to the condensation of warm humidified air entering in the lower regions of the installations when it reaches upper and cooler regions. This condition occurs, for instance, when the lower collecting end of a chute is located in a warm hotel lobby where the humidity is raised by the congregation of human bodies and the tracking in of moisture in stormy weather. If, as frequently happens, the sections in the stories above pass close to windows and are exposed to the lower shown in the drawings, whereby, independently of the opening and closing of the sections to the introduction of mail, the section may be left open to the passage of air.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and first to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, A and B respectively indicate adjoining floors of a building, through which the chute installation extends. As to some of its features, my improvements are particularly applicable to twin chute installations comprising two otherwise independent mail chutes placed side by side in the same mountings, and I have illustrated such a chute; Each chute comprises a plurality of superposed floor sections 1 having continuous connections through the floors and closed at the front between floors by removable panels 2 and 3 secured in place by key controlled locks 4 permitting their removal and access to the inte- I rior of the chute by authorized persons only. The lower panels 3 carry mountings in the manner of castings 5, in which are formed the letter drop or mail entrance openings 6. As shown in Figs. 7 and 12, the mountings are held by means of lugs 7 thereon in the mouldings 8 of the panels.

I will briefly describe one form of closure for these openings, which is described in detail in my priorpatent,No. 1,804,050, dated May 5, 1931, but constitutes a structure in connection with which my present invention may be used.

Referring to'the figures on sheet 2, a swinging closure 9 having trunnions 10 suitably I journalled therein normally hangs in the vertically open position at the rear of the mounting 5, shown'in Figs. Hand 13, so that it is inaccessible from the exterior. By means of a horizontally swinging arm 11 that engages the underside thereof, this door or closure may be swung up to a position in which it closes the opening 6 from the underside and maintains it closed, as in Fig. 14. The arm 11 has a vertical bearing 12 at the side of the casting and is operated by persons having access to the interior of the chute through an eccentric handle portion 13.

One of the objects of the closure 9 is to prevent the deposit of mail therein when connected sections on lowerfloors are under repair, but in the case of a twin chute it is utilized also to equalize between the two chutes the volume of mail that is deposited on the several floors. To accomplishthis, it

- is customary, when necessary, to close one mailing aperture on 'a floor and open the other in a staggered relationship. throughout the floors, so that neither chute has all of its letter drops open This, of course, reduces the opportunity for air to pass through the openings of a given chute by half. To leave a' chute section open to the air, though closed to mail matter in such instances, 1 provide the following arrangements.

The closure 9, instead of being solid and continuous to completely seal the drop opening as heretofore, is provided with a plurality of slotsor openings 14. On the underside of the closure is mounted a longitudinally sliding plate 15 having corresponding equally spaced slots or openings 16. By moving the plate or .shutter thus formed, the slots or vents '14 may be wholly closed, as in F igs;

9 and 11, or left entirely open or partially closed, as in Figs. 8 and 10, so that the desired amount of air may pass to meet the particular condition obtaining. In the present 111- stance, the shutter'is longitudinallyslottedat 17 to take he'a-ded screws 18 accessible from the interior of the panel and mounting and the tightening of which holds the shutter adjusted.

The last lower sections on the floor on which the accumulated mail" is received and collected deliver into the mail box 19, shown in Fig. 2 and having the usual letter drop opening 20. To regulate the entrance and exit of air at this point, I provide a series of perforations 21 in each side wall'of the box and on the interior a similarly perforated sliding shutter plate 22, the perforations in which are correspondingly spacedto register with the boxperforations, opening the interior of the box to the atmosphereor out of register, as in Figs. 3 and '5, to close the vents'in the same manner as the letter drop closures; These shutters are also slotted at 23 to slide upon and be secured by headed screws 24, I also prefer to cover these sets of vents with a. protecting screen 25, as shown in Fig. 4, mounted in the frame 26 suitably secured to the side of the box. a

With draft and pressure control contrivances constructed in accordance with my above described invention, it will be seen that adjustments can be made at different points to meet all conditions, increasing or decreasing the flow of air in-both directions or utilizing its action to best advantage. Icla'im as my invention:

1. In an air pressure and air movement control for mail. chutes, the combination with a plurality of enclosed chute sections superposed to extend through the floors of a building, the sections being provided with'eletter 2. In an air pressure and air movement control for mail chutes, the combination with a plurality of enclosed chute sections superposed to extend through the floors of a building, the sections being provided with letter drop openings on each floor, of displaceable closures for said openings, and regulatable means on the sections controlled independently of the positions of the closures for admitting air to or permitting its escape from the chute, said means comprising vented portions in the closures themselves too small for the entrance of mail matter in association with shutters adapted to open and close the vents.

3. In an air pressure and air movement control for mail chutes, the combination with a plurality of enclosed chute sections superposed to extend through the floors of a building, the sections being provided with letter drop openings on each floor, of displaceable closures for said openings, and regulatable means on the sections controlled independently of the positions of the closures for admitting air to or permitting its escape from the chute, said means comprising vented portions in the closures themselves too small for the entrance of mail matter in association with shutters adapted to open and close the vents, said shutters being accessible for manipulation only from the interior of the chute.

4. In an air pressure and air movement control for mail chutes, the combination with a plurality of enclosed chute sections superposed to extend through the floors of a building, of a mail box receptacle into which the lowermost chute section discharges and provided with a letter drop opening, a displaceable closure for the letter drop opening, and regulatable means in the receptacle controlled independently of the position of the closure for admitting air to or permitting its escape from the box.

5. In an air pressure and air movement control for mail chutes, the combination with a plurality of enclosed chute sections superposed to extend through the floors of a building, the sections being provided with letter drop openings on each floor, of displaceable closures for said openings, regulatable means on the sections controlled independently of the positions of the closures for admitting air to or permitting its escape from the chute, a. mail box receptacle into which the lowermost chute section discharges and provided with a letter drop opening, a displaceable closure for the letter drop opening, and regulatable means in the receptacle controlled independently of the position of the closure for admitting air to or permitting its escape from the box.

6. In an air pressure and air movement control for mail chutes, the combination with two mail chute installations arranged side by side, each comprising a plurality of enclosed chute sections superposed to extend through the floors of a building, the sections of both installations being provided with letter drop openings on each floor, of displaceable closures for said openings, and regulatable means on the sections controlled independently of the positions of the closures for admitting air to or permitting its escape from the chute whereby a section of one installation may be closed to mail but open to the air while its companion section or" the other installation is open to mail and to the air.

7. The combination with a mail chute extending through the floors of a building and embodying letterdrop openings, of means additional to the mail drop openings for controlling and modifying the air pressure and air movement in the chute.

JOSEPH XVARREN CUTLER. 

